Simplify your life, one day at a time

I am learning to love my bread machine. This week I tried a new recipe – Oatmeal Bread. It was very good, and my family liked it, but it kind of fell apart when I took it out of the pan because it stuck to the sides. (This is an ongoing struggle for me. I’m not sure what I’m doing wrong.) I didn’t take a picture of my loaves because it was late when I took then out of the oven and I didn’t want to turn on the lights in the kitchen, but it came out shaped kind of flat, like the picture above. (I also struggle just a bit with getting it to rise correctly in the transfer from bread machine to loaf pans, but I keep trying in the hope that someday I will figure it out.)

The recipe was for a 2-lb loaf, but I have smaller bread pans. I made it according to the recipe, but split it into two smaller loaves for baking. For me, this is the perfect size and it makes great sandwiches and toast for the kiddos. Let me know if you try it and what you think.

Oatmeal Bread

Add ingredients to your bread machine in the order suggested by the manufacturer. Makes one 2-lb loaf or two 1-lb loaves.

1 1/3 C. Quick Cooking Rolled Oats*

*Toast oats by spreading in a shallow baking pan and baking for 15-20 minutes in a 350 degree oven until light brown, stirring occasionally. Add oats with the flour.

¾ C. Milk

½ C. Water

2 T. Margarine

3 1/3 C. Bread Flour

¼ C. Packed Brown Sugar

1 tsp. Salt

1 ¼ tsp. Active Dry Yeast

If you let the bread machine bake the bread, select the whole grain or white bread cycle. I turn mine out to rise in bread pans and let it rise 1″ above the pan, then bake for about 30 minutes at 350 degrees.